'All Three Show Openers...'

Band members aside, few know U2360° as well as Show Director Willie Williams.

But forced to choose only 22 songs in selecting the tracks for 'U22'... what would he choose?

Here's Willie's thinking and, below, his tracklisting. Jump into the comments with what you think of what he's included... and what he's left out.

'This was a difficult choice mostly because, through complete force of
habit, I kept thinking of it as a set list. It became considerably
easier once I'd abandoned the notion of this list ever being performed
live so I could start with all three openings of the show - first the
2010 opening ('Stingray'), moving on to the 2011 opening ('Real Thing') then
popping back for the 2009 opening (Breathe).

There was temptation to
abandon all the hits in favour of the rarities but given that this is in
some way supposed to represent the tour there were a few reinvented
classics which it would have been rude to leave out - the 'Arab Spring'
remake of Sunday Bloody Sunday, the intense 360 immersive version of
'Still Haven't Found' and, most of all, Beautiful Day as a 'duet', with
Commander Mark Kelly performing on the International Space Station.

The pillars of the 360 show have to be there of course: City of Blinding
Lights, 'I'll Go Crazy', Moment of Surrender, 'Boots'. It is also a great
opportunity to immortalise some of the songs that only appeared briefly
on the 360 tour, particularly Your Blue Room and the spontaneous medley
of All I Want is You / Love Rescue Me. It seems only right to give
space to the songs that we may not hear performed again for some time
(Scarlet, Unforgettable Fire) and then there are my personal favourites
to cram in (Ultraviolet, Zooropa, No Line).

Given enough space I would
have probably included all 46 songs (plus the unreleased ones and a few
more that never made it beyond soundcheck) as they all played their part
in building the character of the tour. However, the rules said 22 only
so, for better or worse, this is how I'll remember U2360° - a remarkable
collection of U2 songs that references every one of their albums... if
you count the 16 bars of 'Discotheque' mashed into 'I'll Go Crazy'.

The Return of the Stingray GuitarEven Better Than the Real ThingBreatheGet on Your BootsI Still Haven't FoundOne Tree HillNo Line on the HorizonThe Unforgettable FireAll I Want is You / Love Rescue MeBeautiful Day (with Mark Kelly)Your Blue RoomUnknown CallerZooropaCity of Blinding LightsI'll Go CrazySunday Bloody SundayScarletBadHold Me Thrill MeUltraviolet Moment of SurrenderOut of Control

The standout track? Has to be Ultraviolet. Listen carefully enough and you can almost hear the mirror ball...'

COMMENTS

Well I was there on the 360 at Don Valley Willie and Bono wished you happy birthday and we all sung it to you. All us Sheffield lads & lasses. What a night that was.................
All I ask of you Willie is to have a word with the band as I would love them to do the Live-Aid version of Bad if it only the once. They talk of Queen been the band of the show, HAHAHAHA...... Who's kidding Who ?.
Raise them hairs on the back of my neck one more time before I die Bono. This to me is U2 at there finest ,loud ,rauchous and rocking the world.

kellenT

27 November, 2011

WTH is wrong with you willie?

ok first of all, that is such a great set list, but if that were put on a CD or DVD, youd really have to convice me to spend my money and that, and i will buy just about anything of U2's! he left out, songs that just make the entire U2 show! how the heck can you leave off 3 U2 songs, that basically made U2, the ones that EVERYBODY knows, how can you leave out, Pride? i was very dissapointed in the fact that it wasnt on the 360 dvd. With or without you, without a doubt, U2's most popular song, MY favorite u2 song ever, and this is the song, that everyone goes to a U2 show to hear, no one pays 40 dollars for a ticket, to hear HMTMKMKM they want to hear WOWY! and you left out the song that is the ultimate U2 live song, the song that bono said himself, saves the show, the song that larry says, is the song that on the studio comes nowhere near the live rendition. Where The Streets Have No Name! how do you leave that out? thats a MUST! an absolute must! if WOWY, and Streets arent on the CD, i wont buy it, i can live without pride on there, but if those two are not on there, you will disappoint MANY U2 fans, and i will not buy it! >.<

NitaMa15

23 November, 2011

My U22

In alpha order: All I Want is You / Love Rescue Me, Beautiful Day, Elevation, Get on Your Boots, Hold Me Thrill Me, I'll Go Crazy, I Still Haven't Found, Love And Peace, Magnificient, Moment of Surrender, Mysterious Ways, New Years Day, Pride, Sometimes You Can't Make It On Own, Stuck In A Moment, Sunday Bloody Sunday, The Unforgettable Fire, Ultraviolet, Vertigo, Walk On, Where The Streets Have No Name, With Or Without You

u2search

20 November, 2011

Beautiful setlist

I love Unknown Caller and Batman in there! I do miss Streets. Love your diary btw!

juliag

19 November, 2011

40

Willie,
How could you leave 40 off the end of your list. I've gone to dates in every tour since 1985 (often multiple times) and my favourite memories of all these concerts are listening to the fans continue to sing 40 as they empty into the streets after the concert. I was so sad when U2 stopped singing 40 at the end of concerts and now that the tradition was allowed to die I don't know if we'll ever get it back....

mr_mojo

19 November, 2011

Willie Willie Willie........

You're stirring the pot right? C'mon mate, Streets is THE U2 LIVE SONG OF ALL TIME!!!!! You know that of all people. This is a complete stir up for the U2.com members surely? However, I will give you one saving grace....you have BAD in your list. But you're not forgiven! God bless you anyway....your contribution to all these live tracks is outstanding! Thank you.

Kalem687

18 November, 2011

Unreleased tracks

I was a big fan of their unreleased tracks Mercy and Glastonbury...was sad not to see those. But great track selection Willie!

Not_Goodbye

17 November, 2011

An acceptable mix

I agree that Streets is a foundation stone of any U2 concert but I'd be happy to receive the Willie Williams approved CD.

calido

16 November, 2011

Only 22? Let us download the rest!

So 2 discs can only fit 22 songs? That's nonsense. On 2 CDs you could get 30 songs.
And why not let us download the rest that don't make the cut for U22? Even if you charge us a dollar or 2 per song on itunes. But we can download pretty any U2360 concert (those of us who are web-savvy enough) so why not just let us download the rest for free? What would be the harm in that??

medb

16 November, 2011

Rarities

I attended 23 of the shows and I LOVE every song played. But it would be great to have a recording of the rarities as Willie put it. Something we don't always hear, My Blue Room, Scarlet, Electrical Storm, Spanish Eyes, UltraViolet, etc. It's nice to have them and I would live to add some more live versions to my collections.

jlscott28

16 November, 2011

No Streets? No Show!!

There is no match for the energy and the emotion of Streets in a U2 show. No Streets? No Show!

Anam

15 November, 2011

I like the cut of your gib...

Also a good setlist there Willie, and from a man who knows about such things. My only gripe would be 'that song' (fourth on your list). On a separate note, as a man of a certain age I have no patience for reading online. Your diaries deserve a book, or better yet, a book deserves your diaries :O) Thanks for your insights over the years.

15 November, 2011

U2

U2 u are the best band in world

Brad Moist

14 November, 2011

Great selections

I couldn't agree more.

Plumilla_2000

13 November, 2011

Great Wiilie Williams

It is difficult to choose a setlist between 46 but I don´t want to imagine if we had to choose between all the discography. This is my setlist: Breathe // Out of control // Beautiful day // Magnificent // Unknow caller // Bad // Until The End Of The World // Get on your boots // Vertigo // I´ll go crazy remix // Even better than the real thing // Stay (faraway, so close!) // One tree hill // Miss sarajevo // One // Walk on // Pride (In The Name Of Love) // Where the strrets have no name // Ultraviolet (light my way) // With or without you // Moment of surrender // 40 .....I hope that there is a third cd with bonus tracks including other songs how City of Blinding lights.... I still haven´t found what I looking for.... Sunday bloody sunday.... Spanish eyes.... Zooropa.... The fly.... Desire.... Mercy.... Glanstonbury.... North star.... The Return of the Stingray Guitar ....Etc....Etc....

Elevated

13 November, 2011

Where's Stuck?

I know that not everybody loves it, but the acoustic sound is beautiful live. The list needs to get stuck for a moment!

greydogblues

13 November, 2011

streets

this is a great list, but i can't imagine a U2 concert without Streets. it's the ultimate live song ... moving it towards the beginning in Anaheim 2 jacked up the adrenalin early.... however, i'm enjoying reading other points of view and will be happy with whatever ends up on the final list. [would love to see U2 video crew highlights with proceeds going towards One or Red Zone or another cause.]

Excellant setlist i know not everybody will love it but i would love this as the finished cd . I dont think we are going to get all the rare tracks . But this seems to have a little of everything . Except 40 it has to be on it and wouldnt it be great to finish the cd off with 40 following Out Of Control

praying4U2

12 November, 2011

too many gems to choose from... almost p

.. except no tour is complete without STREETS.... and we really missed out on 40 in CA..
faith777

D1A31O

11 November, 2011

HMTMKMKM

take off hold me thrill me and I'll be happy with it.

philwilson

11 November, 2011

Great Choices

Willie really did a nice job. Makes me re-think my vote. His is a practlcal list that has a great flow.

u237064

11 November, 2011

Willie

Love that he put NLOTH. Great song live

LSMelo

11 November, 2011

U22 goes to all songs

Why not follow OB advice? U2 could send for now a real gift - the U22 CD instead the remixes of other years - and would give us permition to download all the files (in lossless of course).
This way anyone could create his own souvenir of this tour.
U2 people, think about it.

daltonsisters

11 November, 2011

Intro

I agree with what some are saying....we really need the intro song for the CD. Soon or Bowie's classic, Space Oddity. Happy with either. It's such a big moment for fans - adrenaline kicking into anticipatory overload. Love lots of Willie's picks. I really wish they had called it U44....I don't want to exclude any of the songs and it pains me to choose. But agree on Ultraviolet being THE song of the tour. What a beautiful treat to hear those songs from AB sounding as amazing and powerful as when they performed them back in the early 90s.

cluttercoco

11 November, 2011

Willie made the perfect selection except

This Crazy live version is on Artificial Horizon, so we don't need it again! So we could have a rarity instead of that one?
Or a song from the new album: Magnificent. In essence all the new songs are rarities. Who knows which ones they will play again, so put it on!!
Of course a double CD would completely indulge us all wouldn't it? :-)

mr_mojo

11 November, 2011

Streets?!?!?!?!?

Hey Willie! Sorry mate, but maybe you have become too close. Streets is without doubt the greatest live rock song ever! From any of the great live rock show bands okay! It is THE SONG! You must include it it. You can talk about pillars all you like, but that track is the PILLAR of any U2 show. If the band is having a less than average show, this track is always the one that picks any show up. Get it back in there Willie!

LSMelo

11 November, 2011

U22, WHY NOT ALL SONGS!!!

I agree with our OB friend.
Why not all songs to download in lossless?
We would receive the "oficial" U22 but could create our own CD U2ALLSONGS.
Would be lovely if you guys would allow it.

jim_davidson

11 November, 2011

RE: WHY NOT ALL SONGS?

Agree totally - not a bad track there boys - difficult decisions what to leave out rather than what to include
look forward to the final selection